Cabbage Rolls

Here's a tasty meal that tastes way better than it looks or smells (initially). I looked up several recipes online and took the best from several, and improvised a little with what I had. The one thing that is necessary for cabbage rolls: cabbage.

It can be a little tricky getting the cabbage leaves off the head without completely destroying the leaf beyond usefulness. But this little trick helps out a ton. I stab the end of the cabbage with a nice strong knife, and dip the cabbage in hot/boiling water for a minute or so. That softens the outer 2-4 leaves enough to peel them off (carefully!--surpisingly something you just removed from boiling water may burn your fingertips a bit. Not that I did that.). Repeat until you have 10-12 useable cabbage leaves.

At that point, you can add the filling. This is what I used:
cooked rice (about a cup)
ground beef (I didn't cook it before-hand and it was cooked thru just fine)
celery
carrots
onion
tomato sauce
Mix it all together, then dish a few spoonfuls into each cabbage leaf and roll it like a burrito. Put it seam-side down in a crockpot. (This time I actually didn't plan far enough ahead, and did it in a pot on the stove and it worked, just fine, too.) Add a bottle of V8 over the top of them all (this is the VITAL ingredient--improvise on the others if you must, but if you don't have V8, run down to Walgreens or QuikMart and pick it up!!). Cook on low in the crockpot for 8-9 hours.

They look a little scary (like mummies? Maybe this would be a good meal for Halloween!), but they sure do taste good.